NEWS:

"Sorry that it took me so long to put up an update on my website, but to be honest with you I am so busy and I have so much work to do that during the recent time I did not find the time to do this.

I would like to thank my good old friend and webmaster Joe for always taking care so lovely of my history on my and the Rage website. Furthermore I would like to thank all fans who supported us during our latest Rage tour. With the package SEVEN and JADED HEART on board this tour had been one of the "most relaxed" tours during the last years.

Just recently we had a fantastic experience: Rage & Lingua Mortis Orchester at Rock Hard Festival as headliner! This meant to me weeks of sleepless nights, writing orchestra sheets and the rehearsel with our new orchestra line-up from Dortmund. Those few new grey hairs on my head had been worth it - the concert was fantastic! I would like to thank all our guests of stage, because without any soundcheck and by having a bad monitor sound it was not easy to deliver a good performance. I really hope that the WDR has catched some nice recordings so that all who have missed the concert will have the chance to see it later on TV.

At my Photo section you can find many new live pics and on my Motorsport site there is some news too. Unfortunately I had a bad crash this year on the racetrack, which caused me two broken ribs, but we also had many reasons to celebrate like f.e. after the 24h race.

For the upcoming time there's again a lot of work before me: I would like to publish the DVD School Of Metal in English and compose further songs for my upcoming solo album. On October 15th I will be on stage as special guest at the jubilee show of SALATIO MORTIS.

So we'll see each other again either somewhere around the race track or at one of these many festival concerts we'll have with Rage until the end of this year."

BIO:

RAGE - STRINGS TO A WEB

With their new album STRINGS TO A WEB, the legendary German Heavy Metal act RAGE returns with a brand new masterpiece! Recorded at the Twilight Hall Studio (BLIND GUARDIAN, SAXON) in Germany and produced by guitarist Victor Smolski and their long term friend Charlie Bauerfeind (HAMMERFALL, HELLOWEEN and more), STRINGS TO A WEB is another brilliant highlight in the history of this outstanding and unique trio. It is a varied album, showing all the different faces of the band, from pure Heavy Metal thunder through classical and progressive landscapes up to powerful Thrash anthems.

STRINGS TO A WEB is like a journey through the history of the band, who also celebrate their 25th anniversary this year. It is a fresh and technically adapted album full of overwhelming emotion and pure magic. Over this quarter of a century, RAGE has gone through many changes, but always kept to their roots and developed their incomparable style. Be sure of this: there is no doubt that their current line-up is the strongest and best ever. Peavy’s voice is the main trademark, along with the guitar wizard Victor Smolski and power drummer André Hilgers, who rounds up this magical trio.

Enjoy melodic hymns like Into The Light or Hunter And Prey, as well as aggressive tracks like Purified. Celebrate with the manic opening track The Edge Of Darkness. The heart of the album is the 17 minutes track Empty Hollow, which is divided into five chapters. It is a progressive and classical masterpiece in the vein of their Lingua Mortis Suite, but it is even more emotional, abundant and majestic.

The album's North American release, which happens on June 22nd, is a two-disc special edition set for North America that also includes a high quality bonus DVD with 15 songs in total. The main part is the Wacken Open Air show from 2009, a special Best of set featuring many of their eternal classics and exclusive guests like Schmier (Prayers Of Steel, Suicide, Down), Hansi Kürsch (Set This World On Fire, All I Want, Invisible Horizon) and rocking queen Jen Majura (Lord Of The Flies, From The Cradle To The Grave). In addition to that you will even find more live clips, filmed at the Masters of Rock festival and their show in Sofia in 2009. The DVD finishes off with a short movie about Victor’s second fascinating passion – let yourself be surprised. One thing is for sure: You will get great metallic value for your money, that will blow you away!

BAND HISTORIE

The RAGE story begins way back in 1984, when their debut album "Prayers of Steel" was released. Albums were released in regular intervals, and RAGE toured tirelessly throughout Europe, making an abiding and enthusiastic fanbase. Their 1992 album release "Trapped" marked their international breakthrough, with tours through Asia, Russia and South America succeeding regularly after every new release. With a new line-up, RAGE realize their work "Lingua Mortis" in 1996, the first classical album by a German metal act. Subsequently, RAGE plus orchestra did a celebrated tour and played at several European festivals. Their thirteenth album "XIII" saw the light of day in March 1998, forming not only another highlight in the band's career but also the beginning of a new chapter in their line-up: The subsequent album "Ghosts" was followed by a severe personnel change which resulted in guitar player and multiinstrumentalist Victor Smolski joining the band. Together with Peavy Wagner, Victor Smolski is the musical head within the current RAGE line-up and it would be totally impossible to imagine RAGE without him now.

The new line-up had their baptism of fire at the Wacken Open Air in August 1999, presenting an impressive work with the "Welcome To The Other Side" album. Their subsequent releases "Unity" and "Soundchaser" evoked equally enthusiastic reactions from both the press and fans alike, and the appertaining tours turned into veritable triumphal marches. In 2004 RAGE celebrated their 20th band anniversary with "From The Cradle To The Stage", documenting that no former RAGE line-up was as strong a force on stage as the one featuring Wagner, Smolski and Terrana. The European tour 2004 guaranteed to confirm this impression. The next RAGE album "Speak Of The Dead" which was released in 2006, was also acclaimed by the international press, and while RAGE were playing a sold out European tour, the band's concert in St.Petersburg was recorded for a live DVD called "Full Moon In St. Petersburg". Due to personal and musical differences, RAGE split with Mike Terrana at the end of 2006, with André Hilgers becoming the new drummer. André's first concerts were the shows played together with the "Lingua Mortis Orchestra" in Russia, the Ukraine, the Czech Republic and also at the "Wacken Open Air" festival in Germany where the show was recorded infront of an audience of 100, 000. This material was used for a bonus DVD supplementing the upcoming RAGE studio album"Carved In Stone". In 2009, RAGE celebrated their 25 years band anniversary with numerous jubilee shows. With their song "Never Give Up" from the eponymous EP, RAGE gained the third place in the Bundes Vision Song Contest.

LATEST RELEASES:

RAGE STRINGS TO A WEB

PRESS:

"Strings To A Web possesses all of the classic trademarks which have made Rage one of Euro-metal’s household names since their 1986 formation: majestic, memorable choruses—courtesy of bassist Peavey Wagner’s melodious voice—smooth, fluid guitar lines and quick, up-tempo drumming...all of which should be a power/speed metal fanatic’s wet dream." –
Metal George Pacheco, HEAVYMETAL.ABOUT.COMView the article

"Peavy and Rage is an institution when it comes to European melodic metal, and after 25 years, this is yet another proof that they still mean serious buisness. Smolski´s guitarwork is worth dying for." –
Håkon Grav, Scream Magazine - Norway